Cosmic Chemistry

More About This Resource...

Almost 14 billion years ago, our universe began in a cosmic explosion. What happened next? This comic strip, a supplement to the Hall of Meteorites Educator's Guide, uses text and images to explain the interactions that lead to the creation of stars, planetary nebulas, and supernovas.

Text at the bottom of the page explains how this process occurs over and over, generating the building blocks for planets.

Teacher Tip

Supplement a study of astronomy with an activity drawn from this kid-friendly look at the formation of stars.

Ask students what they know about the Big Bang. What did the explosion create, immediately and over time?

Hand out copies of the Cosmic Chemistry comic strip.

Have students focus on the final fact: Each new generation of stars contains higher concentrations of heavy elements than the previous generation. These heavy elements are the building blocks of the planet.

As a class, ask students to speculate about the significance of this increase from generation to generation.